Interventions to prevent weight gain: a systematic review of psychological models and behaviour change methods

Interventions to prevent weight gain exhibited various degrees of effectiveness, and future interventions might be more effective if they were explicitly based on methods of behaviour change that have been shown to work in other contexts.

Abstract

Interventions to prevent weight gain exhibited various degrees of effectiveness. Definite statements about the elements of the interventions that were associated with increased effect size cannot be made as only one of the five studies that involved an RCT design reported a significant effect on weight. This intervention involved a correspondence programme and a mix of behaviour change methods including goal setting, self-monitoring and contingencies. Future interventions might be more effective if they were explicitly based on methods of behaviour change that have been shown to work in other contexts. Effective interventions would be more easily replicated if they were explicitly described. Effectiveness might be more precisely demonstrated if more objective measures of physical activity and diet were used, and if the follow-up was over a longer period. International Journal of Obesity (2000) 24, 131-143